The hard drive is buzzing loudly. Noisy and cracking hard drive under load

Noise sources

Unless you've built a silent system that uses passively cooled components, it will produce a certain level of noise. Hard drives and optical drives are built on spinning platters and disks, and the heads need to be constantly positioned, which creates noise due to vibration. CPU and GPU coolers, as well as case fans, make noise due to the rotation and movement of air. Again, vibration is also a significant source of noise as the fans spin rapidly to blow air through hot components.

Noise Definition

The problem with noise is that the human ear perceives the frequencies of the spectrum in different ways, and there are also individual characteristics of perception. Therefore, certain noises that irritate me may not be noticed by your ears at all. Although the perception of noise is subjective, it can be objectively measured in terms of decibels, reflecting the sound level (sound pressure) relative to some reference. A sound pressure level of 0 dB corresponds to silence, and the decibel scale shows the sound pressure at one level or another. The decibel scale is logarithmic, that is, a difference of 10 dB corresponds to a difference of 10 times.

Noise protection

There are two main ways to reduce noise levels. The first is that the noise source can be installed in a soundproof housing, which reduces the noise level due to special materials that reflect and dampen sound waves. The second is that noise sources can be installed in such a way that they do not come into contact with other materials to which the vibration of the source can be transmitted.

The first product in our review is the 3RSystem computer case, which uses a special hard drive mounting system that separates them from the case and prevents increased vibration. The second product is a hard drive accessory from GrowUp Japan.

3RSystem L-1100 T.REX enclosure with HDD spring mount

The first product we chose for the article is not a specific soundproofing product. Before us is a computer case that has been designed with a focus on the sound isolation of hard drives, as well as overall noise reduction. L-1100 T.REX from the Korean company 3RSystem is an ATX "medium tower" with dimensions of 420 x 200 x 450 mm (height, width, depth).

From the outside, the black case with a shiny front panel looks like any other "medium tower", but inside everything is different. Four 5.25" drive bays, power and reset buttons, and four USB port 2.0, one eSATA port and one audio port. Inside the case there is an additional 3.5" bay, a mounting rack for three 3.5" hard drives mechanically separated from the case.

Soundproofing inside

3RSystem has installed a special sound-absorbing material on all large surfaces inside the T.REX case, which helped to reduce the noise level of the computer as a whole. The top and bottom of the case, front and rear panels are covered with soundproofing. The photo above shows individual soundproofing elements - 3RSystem sent them to us separately for a special demonstration. The same materials are mounted in the housing during assembly at the factory. Both side panels can be removed for installation of components or service, and among the remaining holes can be noted back panel I/O, rear 120mm fan, front 120mm fan, and power supply bay.

Soundproofing effectively reduces the noise of the case as a whole, CPU coolers and video cards are much quieter. However, we wanted to test the noise reduction from hard drives in such a case, so let's get to them and move on.

3RSystem HDD spring mounting system

The hard drive rack can be removed from the side of the case without the need to remove or modify any other components; the stand just slides out to the side. 3RSystem used special spring hangers to isolate the hard drives from the case. The screws used to mount hard drives are not screwed directly into the chassis rack, but to part of the spring mount. In addition, 3RSystem has added a set of rubber pads that also isolate the hard drives from the rack and spring mounts.

Mounting hard drives through spring mounts rather than directly into a drive rack eliminates the widespread passive cooling of hard drives that transfer heat to the rack. 3RSystem has added a 120mm fan on the front to keep the hard drives cool and ensure they are well ventilated. We measured the surface temperature of the test hard drive, which turned out to be 10°C higher than the Smart Drive results (see below). Smart Drive equipment reduces noise, but it uses only passive cooling.

Smart Drive Neo is a highly effective hard drive noise reduction tool that eliminates noise and vibration. Smart Drive Neo released by a Japanese company called GUP(abbreviation "Grow Up Japan"). Before us is a tool that reduces the noise of a hard drive by physically isolating it with spring mounts, as well as placing the hard drive in a closed case. GUP calls the rig "HDD silencer". Soundproofing works very well, but at first we began to doubt the temperature characteristics of the installed hard drive. Fortunately, the product did not disappoint us; it combines noise suppression with effective tool cooling thanks to its aluminum top panel.

The Smart Drive Neo is only suitable for 3.5" hard drives because the top of the Smart Drive Neo needs to be touched on the hard drive. When touched, heat dissipation is reliable, which we tested with the WD Raptor WD740 74 GB 10,000 rpm hard drive - one of the hottest 3.5" hard drives.

Inside the Smart Drive Neo, we found power and data SATA connectors, and the hard drive itself is not just screwed to the Smart Drive snap. GUP has developed a special spring mount to reduce vibration noise. As you can see in the photo below, the mounting mechanism is based on four springs holding two metal bridges. The hard disk must be installed on these bridges, after which the springs will dampen the vibration of the drive - it is really almost not felt when using the equipment. The spring mechanism actually serves two purposes, as it not only eliminates most of the vibrations, but also guarantees contact with the tooling panel for better cooling.

For tests, we used a hard drive western digital WD740 Raptor, which, as we mentioned earlier, is one of the hottest 3.5" hard drives. Although this model already outdated, it still fits our tests pretty well: if the 3RSystem case and GUP hardware can cool the drive well, then they can handle almost any other hard drive.

Noise level measurements

We measured the noise level in three different configurations.

1. Acoustic measurements of a WD740 Raptor individual hard drive. We mounted the hard drive on four pieces of Styrofoam so that the vibration would not be transmitted to the test table.

2. We installed the WD740 in the middle bay of the hard drive rack of the 3RSystem L-1100 T.REX case and measured the noise from the same distance and at the same angle as in the case of a separate hard drive, but outside the closed L-1100 case. We used both case fans to cool the hard drive, but did not install a power supply.

3. We installed the WD740 hard drive in the Smart Drive Neo and ran the same tests as with the standalone hard drive.

All noise measurements were taken at a distance of 70 cm to the left of the hard drive, regardless of what obstacles were present: the case wall or the HDD equipment.

Temperature measurements

We measured the temperature of the drive, located on the test bench, inside the 3RSystem L-1100 T.REX case and inside the equipment. We first ran the IOmeter database test, which is usually quite efficient on the hard drive. After a period of 45 minutes, we used Everest 4.6 to read the hard drive's SMART temperature sensor.

As mentioned above, the temperature of the WD740 hard drive was measured using the SMART function, which displays the required values ​​in utilities such as Everest 4.6. The hard disk temperature was measured after 45 minutes of heavy hard disk I/O activity. As you can see, the GUP Smart Drive Neo does a better job of cooling the 10,000 RPM WD Raptor hard drive even though it's completely closed.

The noise level in idle mode was measured after a few minutes of inactivity, but the motor spindle continued to rotate. The difference is more noticeable than the numbers indicate, as the remaining noise is noticeably lower after installing the WD740 inside any of the products.

The noise level during the IOMeter database test varied quite a lot. When working on an open test bench, the hard drive gave out up to 55 dB, which is very noticeable. This level of noise was considered annoying by most of our engineers. After being installed in the 3RSystem case, the noise level of the hard drive was reduced to 42 dB, which is very close to the noise level in idle mode! It is quite clear that the spring-loaded mounting mechanism, together with the soundproofing material inside the case, do an excellent job. Experienced users will not even guess that a fast 10,000 rpm hard drive is used inside the system; subjectively, the noise level was as low as that of a laptop hard drive.

However, the GUP Smart Drive Neo did even better, reducing the noise level by up to 40 dB during random hard drive activity. If you install the drive in GUP's HDD Silencer, you will effectively eliminate almost all noise above the idle level. The difference between the 3RSystem L-1100 T.REX case and the GUP Smart Drive Neo HDD Silencer is noticeable, but only for those users who don't want to hear the hard drive at all.

Conclusion

Although the noise of the hard drive in last years did not present a serious problem due to notable advances and optimizations in this area, both products reviewed in the review did an excellent job of reducing the noise of the hard drive in idle mode and under random load. The 3RSystem L-1100 T.REX enclosure and the GUP Smart Drive Neo HDD Silencer reduce the noise level during activity to near the noise level when idle. At the same time, there is no need to puzzle over cooling and temperature, since both products are suitable even for high-speed 10,000 rpm hard drives.

The Korean company 3RSystem offers the L-1100 T.REX case - a high-quality "mid-tower" for ordinary PCs. The case is equipped with soundproof pads on all internal surfaces, and the hard drive rack uses spring mounts. Both solutions provide a noticeable reduction in hard drive noise. Two 120mm case fans ensure that hard drives do not overheat.

However, the Smart Drive Neo HDD Silencer equipment from the Japanese company GUP did an even better job of reducing the noise level and cooling the WD740, which we used for the review. To be honest, we did not expect such a convincing result, since the hard drive is in a closed case, that is, there is no air circulation. However, the spring-loaded metal bridges on which you place the hard drive not only mechanically isolate it from the Smart Drive fixture, but also guarantee strong contact between the drive and the top cover of the fixture, which acts as a heatsink. But on the international market, we were able to find the Smart Drive Neo for an impressive $80, so you really must be a fan of quiet computers.

For regular users who just want to make sure that the computer does not make more noise than it needs to work, it is better to look for computer cases with spring mounts or similar mechanisms that do not allow the vibration of the hard drives to be transmitted to the case. Applying soundproofing material, as is done in the case of the L-1100 T.REX, also does not hurt.

The rig will be of most interest to noise-sensitive users or those who wish to minimize noise in a variety of applications. A silent HTPC might not be fast enough, but with the Smart Drive Neo, you'll get pretty close to complete silence if you build your system in a soundproof enclosure like the L-1100.

Hello, friends! What to do, if noisy (rattle) HDD ? If there was no cod before, but now it has appeared, then it is better to immediately save important data, since this is not a good sign. Then, diagnose the HDD with a special program from the manufacturer. How to do this I tell and show. If there was crackling or noise before, you just didn’t pay attention to it, then it’s normal. For example, when calming down, at the beginning, I could not hear the hard drive. But, over time, as there were 2 fans left in the system (in and in the standard cooling system), these sounds became more distinct and began to irritate. How to reduce them, we will consider in this article.

As we said in the article - there are two sources of noise from the HDD:

• From the rotation of magnetic disks
• From hitting a block with heads on the stroke limiter

There is nothing we can do about disk rotation noise. Is it just to buy. But with the blows of the head block, as with the source of the main noise, you can and should fight. Vibrations also arise from the impact, and if they are not dampened, the situation will worsen.

There are several options for solving our problem.

1. Secure your hard drive firmly in
2. Make vibration-damping HDD mounts in the case

The first option is perfect for those who have high-quality cases made of good, thick steel. The second option should suit everyone. In my case, with a cheap case, suspension worked great hard drive on 4 pieces. It was necessary to remove the sled in which the HDD was attached to the basket and freed up space for hanging. Who has no place, i.e. the hard drive is bolted to the case, you can try to put it vertically and hang it in the same way. Some people hang the hard drive under the optical drive. There are more places and it is more convenient to hang, but there is not much cooling there. Therefore, I recommend hanging directly in the basket for hard drives.

Those. the main task is to prevent vibrations from the hard drive from getting to. If you chose the first option (hardly screw the HDD to the case), then it would be appropriate to calculate the places where the resonance occurs and glue them with electrical tape. I myself did not reach this, but I read a lot and it seemed to work out not badly. Usually these are the places where the side covers are attached.

The third option, which we will consider in detail, is the use of AAM

Using Automatic Acoustic Management to Reduce HDD Noise

Automatic Acoustic Management - automatic drive noise management.

In addition to this function, hard drive manufacturers use special shock-absorbing pads that effectively suppress cracking. This is not always enough and not for everyone. And if not enough, you need to use AAM. This function controls the positioning speed of the head block. You can set a numeric value from 128 to 254. Than more number the higher the speed and, accordingly, more vibration and, as a result, noise.

There are many programs for managing AAM. Of the simplest, I can recommend WinAAM. There you can set only two positions 128 or 254. That is, either quietly and slowly, or loudly and quickly.

We will use the HDDScan program, which allows you to set any value from 128 to 254, and thus you can flexibly adjust the noise level from your .

You can download the program from the official website

Run HDDScan.exe

The main program window looks like this

The button in the center opens the main menu of the program. Select Features > IDE Features (if you have a hard drive with SCSI interface- SCSI features)

In the window that opens, we are interested in the Automatic Acoustic Management section. Here you see the current value of Current - 128 and the recommended value - Recommended - 254. I.e. recommend installing on maximum performance.

You can set the desired value by entering a number in the Current field or by setting it using the slider. For the settings to take effect, press Set.

All. Now you can select any value for the optimal ratio of speed and silence.

On some hard drives Automatic Acoustic Management not supported

There is also an Advanced Power Management function that allows you to save energy by reducing the engine speed or completely stopping at the time of inactivity. It turns out that you can still control the speed of the magnetic plates, at least at the time of downtime. But this is not verified information. If anyone has used it, please post the results. Everyone will be interested.

Conclusion

To reduce noise and cod from the hard drive, manufacturers use special shock-absorbing pads. They certainly help, but I want more. Therefore, there are two ways:

1. Do not let the vibrations from the hard drive jump to, (and if they get there by any means, do not let them resonate)
2. Use Automatic Acoustic Management

According to the sensations from the first method, the effectiveness is colossal. It seems that the hard drive is working in a pillow and the crackling from it is only audible if you listen hard. Naturally, the greatest effect can be achieved using both methods. In my case, for the sake of silence, I will gladly sacrifice performance.

Like any other pet, the computer publishes its own . The squeak at boot, the buzz of the coolers of the power supply, processor and video card, the crackling of the hard drive - all let you know that this "organism" lives. When everything is normal, the level of these noises does not cause discomfort, but there is probably nothing more annoying when cracking hard drive, squeaks, squeaks - few people have the patience to survive this.

In principle, it is impossible to completely get rid of the sounds emitted by hard drive, since this device incorporates mechanical components that move in contact with each other, and therefore make noise. Unlike silent solid state drives, the hard drive consists of magnetic disks, on which the information read by the magnetic heads is stored. Basically, the noise occurs during the movement of the magnetic head over the surface of the plate.

The level and nature of the noise emitted by the hard drive depends on the material of the case, the assembly features and the quality of the components, and, of course, the age of the hard drive itself. An important component in the overall noise level of a computer is the case of the system unit. Made of metal of sufficient thickness, a precisely fitted and well-assembled case is unlikely to cause you annoyance due to constant noise, especially if the hard drive and other elements containing the mechanics are installed on sound-absorbing pads. And vice versa, a poorly assembled light and thin-walled case with ill-fitting elements will serve as a resonator and only amplify the sounds emitted by the hard drive.

Also, with age, the noise level from the hard drive tends to increase due to the growing wear and tear of parts that are in motion.

Considering all the above factors, we can sketch out a list of possible measures to reduce the noise level of a hard drive:

• Make additional noise and vibration isolation of the hard drive, install it on sound-absorbing pads.
• Carry out (this will reduce the number of movements of the magnetic head for a certain period of time, but this measure is temporary and will need to be repeated periodically).
• Adjust the AAM to the minimum noise level.
• Replace the hard drive with a new one with a lower noise level. Read.

Since everything is more or less clear with the first two positions of this list, and the last paragraph involves significant financial costs due to problems with the hard drive, we will consider the third paragraph in more detail.

We reduce the crackle of the hard drive using the WinAAM program

All hard drives with ATA interfaces, and even more so SATA, have in their settings a tool for controlling the level of emitted noise - Automatic Acoustic Management ( abbreviated AAM). The principle of operation of this option is based on a decrease in the speed of movement of the magnetic heads, and, accordingly, the level of noise produced is reduced. It will not be difficult to guess that this also reduces the performance of the hard drive, but here everything is very individual for each user, everyone has a different prioritization. But you should not tune yourself too critically to this tool in advance, you may not even pay attention to changes in the speed of the hard drive, but you will definitely get rid of annoying cod.

Since the AAM option is disabled by default, and for greater simplicity of the operation, we will resort to using a small WinAAM utility written specifically for this. I must say right away that this tool is completely free and does not require installation, it can work directly from the archive, which is available via . After starting this program, in the very first dialog, do not touch the security settings and click "Continue".

In the next window at the top, we see a message about disabled noise control and therefore click on the “Quiet / Standard (128)” button.

The utility will configure the hard drive accordingly and shut down automatically. By running it again and clicking on the "Continue" button, and then on "Check", we can observe a window with information about the movements of the magnetic head of the hard drive and draw a conclusion about the noise level with the new parameters - indeed, the hard drive has become much quieter.

Winchester is a storage device that is used in most modern computers and laptops as storage media. However, users prefer to copy valuable data to other media or duplicate it in the cloud in case the hard drive fails. One of the first signs of a breakdown is that the hard drive is cracking. What to do if this happened? The following describes the causes of vibrations and how to eliminate them.

What is noise level?

Noise level is a phenomenon that can be described as the sound emitted by a mechanical structure during operation. This vibration includes two components: spindle (aerodynamic) noise and positioning noise. In total, the sound level reproduced by the hard drive should be twenty-six decibels. If the noise of the component is not blocked by the work of coolers and is clearly audible, this is a reason to think whether everything is in order with the device.

How to set the source of cod?

The hard drive does not always crack when it signals its deplorable state. A certain level of noise may well be the operating mode of the device, but if the situation with annoying sound becomes problematic, then it is still worth disassembling system unit. To get to the insides, it is necessary to unscrew the mounting bolts and remove the housing cover.

During the repair work, you need to take care of your safety. Better be careful with electrical wires. Not superfluous during disassembly of the computer will be complete shutdown devices and grounding.

What are the causes of excessive noise?

To determine the nature of the problem, you need to start the processor and listen for sounds. Perhaps the reason for the excessive noise level is not at all that the hard drive is cracking. It all depends on the features of the assembly of the computer and the quality of its components. The source of the reproduced sound can be a powerful video card fan or a cooler that is simply dirty. If this was precisely the trouble, then it is worth cleaning the fan from dust.

The likelihood of unwanted vibrations also depends on the type of housing. If the system unit has sufficiently thick walls, it will not let in any extraneous sounds and provide proper comfort, while a thin-walled case, on the contrary, will resonate the emitted noises. But what to do if the hard drive in the computer still cracks, and not other components?

Why does the hard drive make an excessive sound?

The essence of the problem lies in the very fact that it is the special magnetic components that produce noise during rotation. In a sense, this is a completely normal workflow. But why does the hard drive crack if there were no unusual noises before? It is an uncharacteristic sound that may indicate violations in the operation of the hard drive.

In addition, any device has its own service life. With prolonged use of the part, the hard drive wears out, which is accompanied by a characteristic crack. In this case, it is necessary to copy all the data from the computer as soon as possible and change the broken part. However, there are also less drastic measures.

How to test a hard drive?

One of the first aid broken sectors hard drive is to block them using special programs. If the hard drive is cracking, then, firstly, you can try using two types of complexes:

1. Acronis. The most common of this kind of program, which has a number of necessary functions. Chief among them is the creation backup from damaged media.
2. Victoria. With the help of the program, you can check the hard drive. If problem areas are found during testing, Victoria will remember them and automatically block them.

How to reduce the noise level with the help of programs?

You can try software methods to reduce the noise level of the hard drive. In this case, AAM or HDDscan programs come in handy.

The first program, the essence of which is to control the speed work hard disk will automatically make the necessary settings. It is quite possible that if the hard drive is cracking, then you should just slow down its speed mode, because the faster the magnetic elements rotate, the louder the device works. A noticeable disadvantage of this program is that it may not recognize the storage medium.

The second program - HDDscan - is free from this shortcoming. The principle of operation of HDDscan is absolutely the same as that of AAM, but added benefit is the ability to test the hard drive and select SMART parameters.

How to reduce the noise level manually?

Mechanical noise reduction is advisable only for a stationary computer; with laptops, only the software method should be used.

There are quite a few options for manually fixing the problem. Often a hard drive cracks during operation, not only because of its malfunction, but the reason may be that its case is not attached well. You should make sure that all elements of the fastening structure are in the grooves, and the bolts are not untwisted. For additional sealing of the connections between the parts of the hard drive and the computer, insulating gaskets are used, that is, the joints can simply be glued with insulating tape, which will help ensure that the hard drive mounting basket does not have direct contact. This method quite effective in combating excessive crackling.

Another way to deal with intrusive sound is to change the location of structural elements or the hard drive itself. This can only be done if given movement will allow the volume of the body. The main goal in this case is to achieve the smallest contact between the hard drive and the case. So, you should ensure the most reliable static position of the hard drive.

There are craftsmen who achieve the location of the hard drive even for which strong and thick wires or wires are used. With the help of such improvised materials, it is possible to achieve a complete absence of vibration transmission to metal parts.

The design and technological methods for reducing vibrations include the use of noise-absorbing devices that help eliminate the consequences, but not the cause of the crackling of the hard drive. In any case, these measures are only temporary. If the problem is really critical, it is better to secure the information and make a complete replacement of the hard drive.